Spacing device.



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. LEES, OF SHELTON, CONNECTICUT.

SPACING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 699,923, dated May 13,1902. Application filed September 30, 1901f Serial ITo. I77,015. -(lTo model.)

To all whom Emoty concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. LEES, a citi'- zen of the United States, residing at Shelton, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Spacing Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a spacing device adapted for general use vwhenever and wherever it maybe required to c'ut articles from pieces of stock,my novel spac'- ing device being adapted to hold all kinds of stock in any sized or shaped pieces that may come to the machine and adapted for use in connection with all kinds of lathes and presses not provided with automatic spacing devices, as well as in connection with small non-automatic machines; and my invention has for its object to provide a spacing device that will raise or lower the stock or move it longitudinally in either direction just the required distancev that is necessary to insure that the article shall be cut without loss of stock between the contiguous edges, thereby effecting such an important saving in stock as to appreciably affect the cost of production, as I find in practice that in machines not provided with automatic spacing devices and when making articles by the u se of handtools it is impossible to prevent great waste of stock not only between the rows," but between the articles in each row.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l isa front elevation illustrating the operation of my novel spacing device in use; Fig. 2, an edge view; and Fig. 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

A denotes framework, which may be of any ordinary or preferred shape or construction to adapt the spacing device for use upon any special machine or in connection with handtools.

My novel spacing device consists, essentially,of aframeworkA,a horizontal rack B,a vertical rack or racks C, two being shown in the drawings to correspond with the special frame illustrated, pawls corresponding with the racks, anda carrier D, adapted'to slide upon the horizontal rack, by which a piece of stock, as indicated'by E, may be carried. The teeth of rack B are flat-topped verticalsided teeth, as specifically indicated by 10 in vwithin'the scope 'of' my invention.

The special shape or design of the carrier iswholly unimportant so far as the principle of my invention is concerned. It is simply required that the carrier be adapted to ride freely on rack B. I have shown a carrier comprising a top plate ll, bottom plate 12, front plate 13, and back plate 14:, although any other suitable construction will beequally In practice the stock may be retained on the carrier by means of jaws, preferably controlled by a spring, one jaw being stationary or both jaws movable, as may be preferred. In the present instancelI have shown one jaw (specifically indicated by l5)as formed integral with back plate l4that is to say, rsaid back plate is simply4 extended to form the jaw and is provided with prongs 1.6, which grasp and retain the stock.- v

17 denotes the 'front jaw, which is pivoted to jaw 15,v as at 18, and is provided with prongs 16 and is retained in the closing position by means of a spring 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The pawl-upon the carrier, which I have indicated by 21, is shown as pivotedto an offset arm 20, extending from the carrier. This pawl, which is not necessarily pivoted centrally, but may be pivoted at one side of the center, as shown in'Fig. 1, is shown as retained in operative position by hand,althougharetaining-spring maybeused, if preferred, without changing the principle of the invention. In use the carrierA may be moved in either direction-that is to say, a row of articles maybe cut from the stock while the carrier is being moved longitudinally in one direction, then the carrier is lowered, as will presently be explained, andy the lnextrow of articles isV cut while the carrier is being moved longitudinally in the opposite direction. In Fig.1 the carrier is shown vas being moved toward the left.

As soon as an article has been out from the stock the operator simply moves the carrier along the horizontal rack. AThe rightend of pawl 21 is tilted by engagement with the next tooth, and as soon as it has passed the tooth by which it was lifted the right end of saidpawhlying under the hand of the operator, Vwill drop to the engaging position again. Having cutout a row of articles the entire length of the stock, the carrier and stock are dropped, as will IOC) ,by the jaws.

presently be explained, and the next row of articles is cut with the carrier moving in the opposite direction, the left end of the carrier now becoming the operative end thereof and being depressed after it has passed each tooth by thc hand of the operator. In practice the operator holds the pawl backward against the vertical side of' the tooth last passed while an article is being cut from the stock.

The vertical rack or racks C are shown as rigidly bolted to the horizontal rack and as lying outside the framework. This special arrangement., however, is wholly immaterial so far as the principle of my invention is concerned, it being simply required that the :racks be so constructed as to move freely and steadily on the framework.

22 denotes pawls adapted to engage racks C, which are rigidly secured at the opposite ends of an oscillating shaft 23, which is mounted upon the framework,and is provided with a handle 24 for convenience in operation. The teeth of racks C each consist of an incline terminating in an abrupt shoulder facing downward, so that the racks and the carrier will be held againstdownward movement when said teeth are engaged by pawls 22. The construction of these pawls is an important feature of my invention.

25 denotes upper and 26 lower engaging lugs, which are adapted to engage the teeth of racks C alternately. The essential feature of these engaging lugs is that their length and pivotal point relatively to the racks are such that both engaging lugs cannot be disengaged from the racks sim ultaneously-that is to say, before either the upper or lower lugs can be disengaged from the teeth the disengaging movement will have placed the other engaging lugs in such a position that they must necessarily be engaged by the racks as.

they drop down.

The operation of my novel spacing device will be obvious from the description already given. The operator by compressing spring 19 opens the jaws, so that a piece of stock may be inserted, which is then retained in place The articles are cut from the piece of stockin rows. The first row is ordinarily cut from the lower edge of the piece of stock. After each article has been cut the operator manipulates pawl 21 and moves the carrier forward one tooth. As pawl 2l is double-ended, it is obvious that the operator may commence cutting each row of disks at either end of the piece of stock and may work either toward theright or the left, as preferred. It will of course be obvious that the teeth of rackBand the length of pawl 2l bear such a relation to each other as to give the exact distance required from center to center of the articles. The centers of the articles in the dierent rows may or may not be out of vertical alinement with each otherthat is to say, vertical lines drawn through the centers of the articles in any given row may either register with the centers or pass between the edges of articles in the contiguous rows above and below. ln dropping the piece of stock for the next row of articles the operation is brefiy as follows: The operator by anv upward movement of handle 24 disengages the upper engaging lugs of pawls 22 from racks'C and in so doing places the lower engaging lugs in position to be engaged by the racks as they drop down. This is followed by a downward movement of the handle to disengage the lower engaging lugs and place the upper engaging lugs in position to be engaged by the neXt teeth as the racks, carrier, and piece of stock drop a second'time. It will be seen, therefore, that this double movement of the handle causes the racks and carrier to drop just one tooth, the complete movement being divided into two parts, the lirst part being the distance that the racks and carrier drop to engage the lower engaging lugs and the second part the distance said members drop until the upper engaging lugs are engaged by the next teeth of the racks, it being of course understood that the teeth of racks C, the length of pawls 21, and the position of the engaging lugs bear such a relation to each other that a drop of the rack one tooth will permit the exact drop of a piece of stock required to permit the cutting of another row of articles without waste.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. A spacing device consisting essentially of a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, means for locking the carrier against backward movement, a vertical rack rigidly secured to the horizontal rack and means for locking the vertical rack and the carrier against downward movement.

2. A spacing device consisting essentially of a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, a double-acting pawl for locking the carrier against backward movement, a vertical rack rigidly secured to the horizontal rack and a pawl for locking the vertical rack and the carrier against downward movement. v

3. A spacing device consisting essentially of a frame, a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, a pawl for locking the carrier against backward movement, a vertical rack rigidly secured to the horizontal rack and a pawl carried by the frame and adapted to engage thevertical rack to lock the latter and the carrier against downward movement.

4. A spacing device consisting essentially of a frame, a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, a pawl for locking the carrier against backward movement, vertical racks rigidly secured to the horizontal rack and an oscillating shaft mounted on the framework and carrying pawls adapted to engage the vertical racks.

5. A spacing device consisting essentially of a frame, a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, a pawl for locking IOO IIO

the carrier against backward movement, vertical racks rigidly secured to the horizontal rack, an oscillating shaft mounted upon the framework and pawls rigidly secured to the shaft and carrying engaging projections at opposite ends, so that the racks and the carrier may be dropped and may be locked by the pawls against further downward movement. l

6. A spacing device comprising a horizontal rack, a carrier adapted to be moved thereon, means vfor lockingv the carrier against backward movement, a. vertical rack rigidlyl secured to the horizontal rack, an oscillatory shaft, pawls carried by said shaft and having upper and lower lugs adapted to engage the vertical rack, the teeth of the racks and the GEORGE C. LEES.

Witnesses:

- J. B. WYMER,

R. R. HEALEY. 

